A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

Captain  Oliver  Brown, 

AN   OFFICER  OF  THE 

REVOLUTIONARY  ARMY 

WHO  COMMANDED  THE  PARTY  WHICH  DESTROYED  THE 

STATUE  OF  GEORGE  THE  THIRD, 

IN  NEW  YORK  CITY,  JULY  9,  1776. 


BY  THE 

Rev.  HORACE  EDWIN  HAYDEN, 

Member  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
&c,  &c,  &c. 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED. 


WILKES-BARRE,  PA. 
1882. 


tx  ICtbrtB 

SEYMOUR  DURST 

FORT    NEW    A.M.5TKRDA.-1  ^mSStH.         NEW  VOBK     ,      10 5 1 

l^ben  you  teaye,  please  /edi?e  (bis  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Ever'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 

Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

OF 

Captain  Oliver  Brown, 

i 

AN   OFFICER  OF  THE 

REVOLUTIONARY  ARMY, 

WHO  COMMANDED  THE  PARTY  WHICH  DESTROYED  THE 

STATUE  OF  GEORGE  THE  THIRD, 

IN  NEW  YORK  CITY,  JULY  9,  1776. 


BY  THE 

Rev.  HORACE  EDWIN  HAYDEN, 

Member  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
&c,  &c,  &c. 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED. 


WILKES-BARRE,  PA. 


Copyrighted,  1882, 
By  Rev.  Hokace  Euwin  Hayden. 


E.  B.  Yordy, 
Book  and  Job  Printer, 
Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 


1 


TO  MY  YOUNG  FRIEND, 

JULIA    CAROLINE  POLSLEY, 

POINT  PLEASANT,  WEST  VIRGINIA, 

DAUGHTER  OF  THE  LATE  HON.   DANIEL  POLSLEY, 
AND 

GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER  OF  CAPT.  OLIVER  BROWN, 

THESE  PAGES  ARE 
✓ 

MOST  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


http://archive.org/details/biographicalsketOOhayd_0 


OLIVER  BROWN, 

Captain  of  Artillery  in  the  Continental  Army, 
I775-I733- 


A  very  interesting  paper  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  A.  B. 
Muzzey,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  entitled  "The  Battle  of  Lex- 
ington, with  personal  remininiscences  of  men  engaged  in 
it,"  and  printed  in  the  New  England  Historical-Genealogical 
Register  for  1877  (xxxi.,  377),  calls  to  mind  an  active  par- 
ticipant in  the  exciting  events  of  that  memorable  19th  of 
April,  1775,  who  served  his  country  with  fidelity  and  distinc- 
tion in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  but  whose  name  escaped 
Mr.  Muzzey's  notice  entirely.  Mr.  M.  mentions  Deacon 
"Solomon  Brown,"  the  patriot  who  drew  the  first  British 
blood  that  day.  Oliver  Brown,  who  received  his  first  bap- 
tism of  fire  on  Lexington  Green,  was  the  elder  brother  of 
Solomon.  They  were  both  born  in  Lexington,  and  were 
sons  of  Benjamin  (3),  who  married  December  22d,  1742, 
Sarah  Reed,  daughter  of  William  Reed,  Esq.  He  was  a 
deacon  of  the  church  at  Lexington,  and  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  He  had  eleven  children,  among  whom  were  Oliver 
(4),  born  July  25th,  1753;  Solomon  (4),  born  January  15th, 
1757-;  and  James  (4),  born  October  13th,  1758.  James  (4) 
married,  May  30th,  1780,  Betty,  daughter  of  Hammond  and 
Betty  (Simonds)  Reed,  of  Lexington,  where  his  descend- 
ants still  reside.  Of  Solomon,  see  notice  at  the  end  of  this 
sketch. 


6 


It  has  been  claimed  that  Oliver  was  fourth  in  descent 
from  Peter  Brown,  who  came  to  America  in  the  Mayflower, 
in  1620,  through  Peter,  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  1632.  Hut  the 
connection  between  the  Windsor  Browns  and  the  Mayflower 
emigrant  is  not  proven.  Chas.  Hudson,  in  his  "History  of 
Lexington,  Mass.,"  makes  Oliver  fourth  in  descent  from 
John,  of  Watertown,  thus:  Oliver  4,  Benjamin  3,  Joseph  2, 
John  I.  This  John,  the  ancestor  of  Oliver,  was  son  of 
John,  of  Hawkedon,  County  Suffolk,  England,  mentioned 
by  Savage  as  "baptized  in  Hawkedon  Church,  October  1 1, 
1601;  arrived  September  16,  1632,  at  Boston,  from  London, 
on  the  ship  Lion,  and  settled  at  Watertown." 

According  to  Savage,  John  Brown,  of  Cambridge,  called 
a  Scotchman,  married  April  24th,  1653,  Esther,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Makepeace,  and  in  his  father's  will,  eleven  years 
after,  is  called  of  Marlborough.  He  had  eleven  children, 
of  whom  the  youngest,  Joseph,  was  born  at  Marlborough, 
1677.  The  next  year  John  (1)  moved  to  Falmouth,  and 
probably  at  the  second  destruction  of  that  town  moved  to 
Watertown,  where  he  dates  his  will,  November  20th,  1697, 
in  which  he  mentions  his  son  Joseph  (2).  Joseph  (2)  mar- 
ried November  15th,  1699,  Ruhamah  Wellington,  and  had 
Ruhamah,  Daniel,  John,  and  Joseph,  born  at  Watertown. 
In  1709  he  removed  to  Lexington,  and  there  had  James, 
Josiah,  Benjamin,  and  William.  He  died  there,  a  deacon 
of  the  church,  January  nth,  1766.  His  wife  died  July  1st, 
1772,  age  92.  This  genealogical  problem  must  be  left  for 
others  to  solve. 

About  the  year  1762  Oliver  Brown,  while  yet  a  youth  of 
eight  or  nine  years,  became  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  a 
Mr.  Thatcher,  of  Cambridge,  with  whom  he  resided  until  he 
came  of  age.  Living  thus  in  such  proximity  to  the  scene 
of  the  very  remarkable  events  which  occurred  in  Massa- 


7 


chusetts  during  Gage's  administration,  he  could  not  well  be 
ignorant  of  them.  Although  but  fourteen  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1766,  the  rejoic- 
ing with  which  this  action  of  Parliament  was  received  in 
the  colony,  made  an  impression  on  his  mind  which  subse- 
quent events  greatly  strengthened.  The  landing  of  the 
British  troops  at  Boston  in  1768;  the  massacre  of  the  citi- 
zens on  the  5th  of  March,  1770;  the  dissolution  of  the 
General  Assembly  by  proclamation  of  Gage;  the  seizure  of 
the  sloop  Liberty,  &c.,  were  gradually  preparing  his  mind 
for  the  great  struggle,  of  which  these  occurrences  were  the 
forerunners.  On  the  memorable  day  when  the  destruction 
of  the  tea  in  Boston  harbor  occurred,  he  was  in  Boston, 
drawn  there  by  an  impulse  irresistible.  "The  very  air  was 
electric.  In  the  tension  of  the  popular  mind,  every  sound 
and  sight  was  significant."  He  noticed  the  unusual  com- 
motion among  the  inhabitants,  and  endeavored  to  learn  the 
cause  definitely,  but  failing  of  success,  he  returned  early  to 
Cambridge.  His  interest,  however,  was  intensely  aroused. 
He  could  not  remain  at  home  when  his  personal  services 
were  possibly  needed  "in  the  city.  He  immediately  returned 
to  Boston,  and  following  the  leading  of  his  impulse,  found 
himself  very  soon  amid  the  crowd  that  thronged  the  wharf, 
and  so  became  an  eye  witness  to  the  party  of  citizens  who, 
dressed  in  the  costume  of  Mohawk  Indians,  boarded  the 
vessels  lying  at  anchor  there,  and  threw  overboard  into  the 
harbor  the  cargo  of  tea  which  an  indignant  populace  had 
not  allowed  to  be  landed.  This  incident  removed  whatever 
hesitancy  Mr.  Brown  may  have  felt  about  espousing  the 
cause  of  the  Colonies,  and  decided  him  to  devote  himself  to 
the  defence  of  his  country. 

When  the  19th  of  April  dawned  upon  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  the  citizens  of  Lexington  had  already  heard 


8 


of  the  approaching  party  of  six  hundred  British  troops 
under  Pitcairn,  enroute  for  Concord  to  destroy  the  American 
stores  secreted  at  the  latter  place.  Before  the  break  of  day, 
Captain  John  Parker  had  assembled  his  little  company  of 
sixty  men  to  drill  them  for  the  conflict  which  each  man  felt 
was  assuredly  near.  The  echoes  of  the  last  gun  fired  at 
Lexington  that  morning  had  scarcely  died  away  before 
Oliver  Brown  was  on  his  road,  with  his  fire-lock  over  his 
shoulder,  to  Lexington.  No  telegraphic  wires  had  flashed 
the  messages  of  danger  over  that  region,  but  before  Pitcairn 
had  taken  one  step  in  his  march  towards  Concord,  Paul 
Revere's  signal  had  appeared  in  the  spire  of  the  old  South 
Church,  and  mounted  minute  men,  sparing  neither  whip  nor 
spur,  were  arousing  every  farm  house  and  village  and  hamlet 
with  the  cry,  "To  arms."  Col.  Smith  began  his  retreat 
from  Concord  at  noon  that  day.  At  every  mile  of  the  way 
back,  over  the  same  route  which  the  victorious  troops  had 
stained  with  blood  that  morning,  the  crack  of  the  patriot's 
musket  was  heard,  each  hour  bringing  in  from  the  country 
around  fresh  accessions  to  the  patriot  force,  and  thinning 
the  ranks  of  the  weary  and  now  dispirited  foe,  many  of 
whom  fell  in  their  tracks  exhausted,  or  wounded  or  dead. 
Among  the  patriots  that  afternoon  Oliver  Brown  was  active. 
When  Lord  Percy,  who,  with  his  twelve  hundred  men,  had 
marched  from  Boston  that  morning  to  reinforce  the  party 
under  Pitcairn,  met  the  retreating  column  at  Lexington, 
and  opened  upon  the  Americans  with  his  two  pieces  of 
cannon,  Oliver  Brown  stood  within  a  few  yards  in  immedi- 
ate front  of  the  artillery.  When  Lord  Percy  began  his 
retrograde  march  towards  Boston,  Mr.  Brown  was  among 
the  patriots  who  hung  upon  his  front  and  rear,  harassing 
his  column,  until,  as  the  sun  sank  to  rest  that  evening,  the 
wearied  invaders  reached  the  shelter  of  the  royal  vessels 


9 


riding  at  anchor  in  Boston  harbor,  and  the  pursuit  of  the 
patriots  ceased. 

After  the  events  of  this  day,  it  was  impossible  that  Mr. 
Brown  should  be  an  idle  spectator  of  whatever  might  follow. 
He  was  among  the  first  to  enroll  himself  in  the  American 
Army  that  besieged  the  City  of  Boston.  He  was  also  one 
of  the  nine  hundred  men  who,  under  the  brave  Prescott,  on 
the  evening  of  the.  16th  of  June,  marched  to  Breed's  Hill, 
and  that  night  erected  the  entrenchments,  which,  on  the 
following  day,  they  so  gallantly  defended  against  more  than 
three  times  their  number,  that  the  wounded  and  killed  of 
the  enemy  exceeded  the  entire  force  of  Americans  engaged 
in  that  battle.  In  this  action,  as  well  as  during  the  long 
siege  of  Boston,  he  doubtless  made  a  reputation  for  himself 
as  a  soldier,  for  on  the  16th  of  January,  1776,  then  a  private 
in  the  ranks,  he  received  from  the  Congress  a  commission 
as  "  Captain-Lieutenant "  of  artillery,  and  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  two  field  pieces.  After  the  evacuation  of  Boston, 
he  moved  with  the  American  Army  to  New  York  City. 
There  he  became  the  principal  actor  in  a  transaction  whose 
perpetrators  have  never  been  known  unto  this  day. 

On  Thursday,  September  16th,  1 770,  being  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  birthday  of  Prince  Frederick,  second  child  of 
George  III.,  the  Assembly  of  New  York  had  caused  to  be 
erected,  in  the  centre  of  Bowling  Green,  on  a  white  marble 
pedestal  15  feet  high,  an  equestrian  statue  of  George  III. 
This  statue  was  made  of  lead,  richly  gilded,  and  was  the 
workmanship  of  the  celebrated  statuary,  Mr.  Wilton,  of 
London.  The  erection  of  this  statue  in  the  Bowling  Green 
was  the  occasion  of  a  grand  public  display,  the  members  of 
the  Colonial  and  City  Government,  the  corporations  of  the 
Chambers  of  Commerce,  and  the  Marine  Society,  and  the 
officers  of  the  Royal  Army  and  Navy  waiting  upon  the 


10 


Lieutenant  Governor  at  the  fort  near  by,  where  toasts  were 
drunk  to  the  accompaniment  of  military  music  and  artillery. 
To  protect  this  statue,  the  corporation  of  the  City  of  New 
York  enclosed  it,  in  1771,  with  an  iron  railing,  at  a  cost  of 
£800.  Mr.  John  Austin  Stevens,  in  his  historical  address 
Dn  New  York  City,  says:  "The  statue  stood  upon  the 
Green  in  all  its  gilded  glory,  the  object  of  loyal  admiration 
and  patriot  contumely,  until  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  July, 
1776,  when,  after  the  hearing  of  the  proclamation  of  inde- 
pendence, it  was  overthrown  by  the  soldiery, — an  act  of 
vandalism,  for  which  they  received  the  rebuke  of  General 
Washington  in  General  Orders  the  next  morning."  Captain 
Brown's  narration  of  the  event  is  as  follows:  The  reading 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  occurring  that  day, 
aroused  the  American  soldiers  to  the  height  of  enthusiasm. 
Excited  by  the  events  which  had  already  occurred,  and  in 
which  he  had  so  largely  participated,  and  by  the  known 
proximity  of  the  British  forces,  which  landed  at  Long  Island 
on  the  22d,  he  had  already  determined  to  remove  the  statue 
of  the  King.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  added 
firmness  to  his  resolution.  Selecting  forty  men  on  whose 
courage  he  could  rely,  one-half  of  them  sailors,  and  provid- 
ing them  with  ropes,  Brown  marched  them  secretly  that  night 
to  a  dark  alley  opposite  the  statue.  Several  sailors  mount- 
ing the  figure  of  His  Majesty,  securely  fastened  the  ropes 
to  his  body,  when  the  united  strength  of  the  entire  party 
was  exerted  for  his  overthrow.  But  so  firmly  had  the  statue 
been  fastened  to  the  marble  base,  that  the  ropes  broke  at 
the  first  effort.  Success,  however,  crowned  the  second 
attempt;  the  statue  was  pulled  down  over  the  fence,  and  the 
image  of  George  III.  lay  humbled  in  the  dust. 

The  deed  was  not  known  until  the  next  day,  when  the 
news  spread  rapidly  through  the  American  Army.  Coming 


1 1 

to  the  ears  of  General  Washington,  he  at  once  condemned 
the  destruction  of  this  valuable  work  of  art  in  the  following 
severe  language: 

"  Headquarters, 
"  New  York,  July  10,  1776. 
"Though  the  General  doubts  not  the  persons  who  pulled 
down  and  mutilated  the  statue  in  the  Broadway  last  night 
were  actuated  by  zeal  in  the  public  cause,  yet  it  has  so 
much  the  appearance  of  riot  and  want  of  order  in  the  army, 
that  he  disapproves  the  manner,  and  directs  that  in  future 
these  things  shall  be  avoided  by  the  soldiery,  and  left  to  be 
executed  by  proper  authority." 

Whether  Washington  ever  learned  who  was  the  leader 
in  this  transaction  is  not  known,  but  his  disapprobation, 
thus  expressed,  was  so  keenly  felt  by  Captain  Brown  that 
he  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  part  he  played  in  the 
destruction  of  the  statue,  as  the  one  action  of  his  whole  life 
of  which  he  was  the  most  ashamed. 

In  obedience  to  the  orders  of  a  superior  officer,  Captain 
Brown  separated  the  leaden  statue  from  its  iron  support, 
and  sent  it  to  the  laboratory  to  be  moulded  into  bullets. 
Although  it  was  impossible  to  conceal  the  deed  itself,  the 
men  engaged  in  this  unfortunate  affair  prevented  the  part 
they  had  individually  taken  from  becoming  publicly  known, 
and  the  stirring  events  which  almost  immediately  followed 
banished  the  matter  from  the  popular  mind. 

Mr.  Stevens,  in  his  address,  states  that  "the  mutilated 
statue  is  said  to  have  been  taken  to  Litchfield,  Connecticut, 
and  run  into  bullets  for  the  use  of  the  American  Army. 
Fragments  of  it,  however,  still  exist,  one  in  the  possession 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  as  also  the  bullet 
mould  to  which  the  romantic  story  is  attached.  When 


12 


pulled  down  the  marble  pedestal  remained,  but  the  slab 
disappeared.  Subsequent  developments  prove  that  it  was 
taken  to  Paulus  Hook,  and  used  as  a  memorial  stone  of  a 
British  officer,  in  1783 — Major  Smith,  of  the  Highlanders. 
This  stone  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  The  bed  marks  of  the  hoofs  of  the 
horse  may  be  seen  on  one  side  of  it,  and  the  Highlander's 
epitaph  on  the  other.  Two  or  three  years  since  there  was 
dug  up  in  a  marsh  near  Stamford,  Conn.,  about  two  hundred 
pounds  of  lead,  evidently  from  the  gilding,  etc.,  belonging 
to  the  old  statue, — the  tail  of  the  horse  complete,  parts  of 
the  saddle  and  housings, — these  pieces  were  purchased  for 
the  New  York  Historical  Society,  in  whose  care  they  now 
remain." 

Captain  Brown  does  not  appear  to  have  taken  any  part 
in  the  severe  battle  of  Long  Island,  but  at  the  battle  of 
Harlem  Heights,  he  commanded  thirty  men  and  two  field 
pieces.  In  the  letter  of  General  George  Clinton,  dated 
September  21st,  1 776  (to  be  found  in  the  appendix,  p.  54, 
of  the  44  Commemoration  of  the  Battle  of  Harlem  Heights, 
by  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  1876"),  it  is  stated  that 
in  this  action  the  Americans  brought  a  couple  of  field 
pieces  to  bear  upon  the  British  light  troops,  "which  fairly 
put  them  to  flight  with  two  discharges  only."  The  impet- 
uous attack  of  the  Virginia  troops  under  Major  Leitch,  who 
came  upon  the  field  at  this  moment,  drove  the  enemy  four 
hundred  yards  to  the  top  of  a  hill,  where  they  were  rein- 
forced by  the  Forty-second  Highlanders.  After  an  engage- 
ment at  this  spot  of  two  hours  duration,  the  enemy  were 
punished  still  more  severely,  and  driven  almost  up  to  their 
own  encampment.  The  American  troops  being  in  danger 
of  a  flank  movement  by  the  enemy,  which  would  have  cut 
off  their  retreat,  were  at  once  recalled,  leaving  the  enemy 


13 


at  the  point  to  which  he  had  last  been  driven.  Until  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary  appears,  I  must  believe  that  the  two 
field  pieces  which  thus  repulsed  the  light  troops  of  the 
enemy,  and  which  followed  them  up  with  the  infantry,  until 
recalled  by  the  orders  of  Washington,  were  those  com- 
manded by  Captain  Brown,  who  narrated  the  following 
incident  as  having  occurred  during  that  battle  in  which  his 
field  pieces  were  engaged.  Having  advanced  too  far  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  enemy,  when  the  troops  were  recalled,  he 
found  himself  in  danger  of  losing  his  pieces.  He  seized 
hold  of  one  of  his  ordnance  wagons  to  help  his  men,  fifteen 
of  whom  were  either  killed  or  wounded,  when  Gen.  Putnam 
rode  up  and  said  to  him,  "So  long  as  officers  will,  like 
you,  perform  the  duties  of  private  soldiers  there  will  be  no 
room  for  despairing  of  the  American  cause."  The  General 
then  dismounting,  rendered  personally  all  the  aid  he  could, 
and  they  saved  the  pieces  from  capture.  No  credit  is 
given  by  Marshall,  in  his  "Life  of  Washington,"  to  the 
artillery  for  the  important  part  it  played  in  this  spirited 
engagement. 

Captain  Brown  was  also  an  actor  in  the  battle  of  White 
Plains,  where  Captain  Lilley  was  in  command  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts artillery.  In  this  engagement  Graydon  says  (p.  187) 
"We  had  one  field  piece  with  which  to  answer  the  fire  of 
the  enemy."  Bancroft  says  (vol.  v.,  p.  444),  "A  heavy  but 
ineffective  cannonade  by  the  British  across  the  Bronx  was 
feebly  returned  by  the  three  field  pieces  of  the  Americans 
on  the  hill."  General  Samuel  Smith  in  his  Autobiography 
(His.  Mag.,  vol.  vii.,  2d  Feb.,  1870,  p.  84)  says,  "Captain 
Lilley,  of  the  Massachusetts  artillery,  had  planted  his  guns 
on  a  knoll,  and  the  light  horse  made  a  charge  on  him.  tie 
kept  his  fire  until  they  were  within  fifty  yards  of  him,  when 
he  discharged  his  four  pieces,  and  horses  and  men  (14)  fell, 


while  those  who  were  left  fled,  and  he  took  his  guns  safe 
into  the  lines." 

The  retrograde  movement  of  General  Howe  across  the 
Hudson,  and  through  New  Jersey,  followed  the  engagement 
at  White  Plains,  and  made  it  necessary  that  Washington 
should  retreat  towards  Philadelphia  in  order  to  protect  that 
city  from  the  enemy.  This  retreat  was  most  disastrous  for 
the  American  cause.  Desertions  were  constantly  occurring. 
Bancroft  says,  "The  army  was  melting  away,  while  Con- 
gress showed  signs  of  nervousness,  and  felt  their  want  of 
resources."  Wilkinson  says,  "The  Eastern  militia  deserted 
in  crowds  from  White  Plains,  and  the  levies  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  and  the  Jerseys,  whose  term  of  service 
expired  December  1st  and  January  1st,  at  Brunswick,  almost 
to  a  man  left  Washington,  until  the  grand  army,  which  a 
few  days  before  had  numbered  13,000  men,  was  reduced  to 
3,000."  Captain  Brown,  who  followed  the  fortunes  of 
America,  undaunted  by  any  disasters,  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  said  that  although  he  saw  hundreds  desert  the  army  in 
despair  during  this  retreat,  yet  he  and  his  men  remained 
unshaken  and  uninfluenced  in  their  devotion  to  the  cause. 
He  was  among  the  2,400  brave  men  who  crossed  the  Dela- 
ware on  that  terrible  Christmas  night,  with  eighteen  field 
pieces,  among  which  were  his  own.  What  part  his  guns 
took  in  the  successful  surprise  of  Trenton  on  the  next 
morning  does  not  appear.  The  artillery  under  Captain 
Forrest,  according  to  Wilkinson,  behaved  with  distinguished 
bravery.  Col.  Carrington  says,  speaking  of  the  artillery,  "a 
few  skilfully  handled  guns  determined  the  action."  Whether 
Captain  Brown  was  under  the  command  of  Captain  Forrest 
is  not  known.  He  himself  stated  that  he  was  an  actor  in 
this  victory,  which  gave  new  life  and  impetus  to  the  declin- 
ing fortunes  of  the  Americans,  and  also  in  those  which 


i5 


followed  at  Assanplnk  and  Princeton.  Subsequently  he  was 
stationed  with  his  artillery  at  Bound  Brook,  which  place 
General  Lincoln  occupied  with  500  men,  and  where  Corn- 
wallis  nearly  succeeded  in  surprising  the  entire  command 
on  the  13th  of  April,  1777.  Lincoln  only  saved  his  men 
by  a  prompt  retreat,  with  the  loss  of  two  pieces  of  artillery, 
two  subordinate  officers,  and  twenty  men. 

In  the  following  September,  Captain  Brown  was  engaged 
with  his  guns  in  the  long  and  severe  battle,  which  lasted 
from  sunrise  to  sunset,  on  the  banks  of  the  Brandy  wine,  and 
which  terminated  in  the  defeat  of  the  American  Army,  and 
the  opening  of  the  way  to  Philadelphia  for  General  Howe. 
The  next  month  he  was  sending  his  shot  and  canister 
among  the  enemy's  troops  at  Germantown,  into  which  battle 
he  entered  with  a  command  of  sixty  men,  thirty-one  of 
whom  he  left  dead  or  dying  upon  the  field.  In  the  follow- 
ing month  (October),  he  was  transferred  to  Fort  Mifflin  or 
Mud  Isjand,  making  one  of  that  gallant  band  who,  under 
the  brave  Simeon  Thayer,  whose  laurels  another  was  allowed 
to  wear,  made  such  a  spirited  defence  of  the  place  against 
the  assault  of  Donop  and  Howe. 

Then  followed  the  long,  weary,  and  dispiriting  winter  rest 
and  starvation  of  Valley  Forge,  where  Captain  Brown  often 
suffered  for  the  necessities  of  life,  without  abating  one  jot 
of  his  patriotic  devotion  to  the  holy  cause  he  had  espoused 
on  that  day  of  the  baptism  of  blood  at  Lexington,  in  1775. 
This  winter  inactivity  was  broken  up  by  the  spring  cam- 
paign, in  which  he  bore  a  gallant  part.  When  Lee  lost  his 
temper  at  Monmouth,  and  ignominiously  ordered  a  retreat, 
Captain  Brown  was  not  among  those  who  turned  their  backs 
on  the  enemy,  but  he  stood  bravely  by  his  guns,  and  used 
them  effectively.  As  Hamilton  stated  in  his  account  of  that 
battle, "the  artillery  acquitted  themselves  most  charmingly.'7 


i6 


After  this  event,  Brown  was  ordered  to  Fort  Schuyler, 
where  Ganscvoort  had,  with  such  distinguished  bravery, 
sustained  a  siege  by  St.  Leger  and  his  Indian  allies.  Ik- 
must  have  been  at  Fort  Schuyler  at  the  time  of  Van 
Schaick's  expedition  against  the  Onondaga  towns  in  1 779. 
but  his  memoranda  says  nothing  more  of  his  military  career 
in  the  Revolutionary  service,  excepting  that  he  .continued  a 
Captain-Lieutenant  in  the  artillery  of  the  Massachusetts 
line  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Four  years  of  his  service 
were  passed  under  the  personal  command  of  General  Wash- 
ington, by  whom  he  "was  entrusted  with  many  small 
adventures,  for  the  execution  of  which  he  received  Wash- 
ington's personal  thanks." 

In  1776  Captain  Brown  married  Miss  .Abigail  Richardson, 
of  Massachusetts,  who  was  born  April  1st,  1756,  and  by 
whom  he  had  eleven  children,  whose  descendants  have  been 
prominent  citizens  of  the  Republic.  She  was  the  sixth 
child  of  Edward  and  Abigail  (Cheney)  Richardson,  and  of 
the  sixth  generation  from  Ezekiel  Richardson,  of  Woburn, 
Mass.,  1630,  thus:  Abigail  6,  Edward  5,  Theophilus  4, 
Ezekiel  3,  Theophilus  2,  Ezekiel  1.  Ezekiel,  the  emigrant, 
was  a  man  of  note  in  his  day;  a  Constable,  appointed  by 
the  Court  in  1633,  and  a  Deputy  to  the  General  Court,  1635. 

In  1790  Captain  Brown  moved  his  family  to  the  western 
part  of  Virginia,  near  where  now  stands  the  town  of  Wells- 
burg.*    Here  he  served  his  time  as  an  officer  of  the  militia 

*  Hudson's  History  of  Lexington,  Mass.,  says  that  Oliver  Brown  "  moved  to  Virginia 
and  settled  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  gave  his  name  to  the  place,  viz.,  Brownsville."  This 
is  evidently  an  error.  If  Wellsburg  was  ever  named  Brownsville,  it  is  not  so  recorded  in 
Doddridge,  or  Cramer,  or  Jacobs.  In  1790,  when  Patrick  Gass  visited  the  spot  where 
Wellsburg  now  stands,  he  says  "there  was  but  one  building  to  be  seen;  that  was  a  log 
house  on  the  lower  end  of  the  bottom,  near  midway  then  between  the  river  and  the  hills. 
It  was  built  and  for  many  years  occupied  by  Alexander  Wells,  and  was  standing  in  1858." 
Wellsburg  was  originally  named  Charlestoivn.  In  1808  Cramer  notes  it  as  "Wellsburgh, 
formerly  Charlestown."  It  stands  on  a  high  bank  of  the  Ohio.  Brownsville,  Pa.,  50  miles 
above  Pittsburg,  on  the  Monongahela,  the  south  point  of  the  Ohio,  was  named  from  Thomas 
Brown — no  relative  of  Oliver.  There  is  no  other  town  of  the  name  on  the  Ohio  River  from 
there  down  to  the  Kentucky  line. 


*7 


for  three  years  against  the  Indians.  Among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  that  section  with  whom  he  was  long  associated  were 
Colonel  William  McKennan,  of  the  Revolution,  father  of 
Hon.  T.  M.  T.  McKennan,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under 
Fillmore;  Judge  Albert  Caldwell,  Rev.  Joseph  Doddridge, 
D.  D.,  Philip  Doddridge,  Esq.,  and  others.  Captain  Brown 
became  in  his  later  life  a  communicant  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  his  name  occurs  in  the  subscription 
paper  of  Trinity  Church,  Wellsburg,  in  1800,  of  which  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Doddridge  was  Rector.  In  1808  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  six  Commissioners  of  the  Wellsburg  and  Wash- 
ington turnpike,  which  connected  the  town  of  Wellsburg 
with  the  National  Road. 

In  1840  he  received  a  pension  from  United  States  Gov- 
ernment for  his  services  during  the  Revolution.  He  died 
February  17th,  1846,  at  the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  Mr. 
Stephen  Colwell,  near  Wellsburg,  aged  nearly  ninety-five, 
and  blind,  but  not  infirm. 


Oliver  and  Abigail  (Richardson)  Bro  wnhad  issue: 

I.  Abigail,  b.  Cambridge,  Mass.,   l77&- 

IV  John,  b.  Cambridge,  May  17,  1780. 

III.  Sarah,  b.  January  — ,  1782. 

IV.  Danforth,  b.  November  — ,  1783. 
V.  Catharine,  b.  July  — ,  1785. 

VI.  William,  b.  July  — ,  1787. 

VII.  Oliver,  b.   1789. 

VIII.  George,  b.  Wellsburg,   l792- 

IX.  James,  b.  Wellsburg,  February  — ,  1794. 

X.  Richard,  b.  Wellsburg,  l79&',  grad.  Jefferson 

College,  Pa.,  A.  B.  1822;  was  ordained  to  the  ministry 


IS 

of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  received  degree  of  D.  D.  from 
Washington  College,  Pa.,  1861;  was  President  of  Franklin 

College,  New  Hagerstown,  O.;  d.   l&79- 

XI.  Elizabeth,  b.  Wellsburg,  1800. 

Of  these  children, 

II.  John  Brown  married  1 800, in  Wellsburg,  Mrs.  Eleanor 
(Doddridge)  Gantt,  widow  of  Mr.  John  Gantt,  of  Frederick, 
Md.,  and  daughter  of  Philip  Doddridge,  Sen.,  who  emi- 
grated from  Maryland  in  1776,  and  settled  in  Western 
Virginia,  near  the  junction  of  Dunkard's  Creek  and  the 
Monongahela  River.  She  was  also  sister  of  Hon.  Philip 
Doddridge,  of  Virginia,  justly  esteemed  for  many  years, 
"one  of  the  most  noted  men  of  his  section  for  his  splendid 
talents  at  the  bar."  He  was  a  member  of  the  United  States 
Congress  from  1829  until  his  death,  November  19th,  1832. 
(See  Am.  Pioneer,  vol.  i.,  pp.  134-6).  Mrs.  Brown  was 
born  in  Hopewell  township,  Washington  county,  Pa.,  Octo- 
ber 26,  '1780.  She  had  one  daughter  by  her  first  marriage, 
Juliana  Doddridge  Gantt,  born  in  Frederick,  Md.,  February 
28,  1802. 

John  and  Eleanor  (Doddridge-Gantt)  Brown  hac^ issue: 

I.  Catharine,  b.  June  17,  1807;  d.  Jan.  11,  1809. 
II.  Eliza  Vilette,  b.  June  16,  1809;  d  Dec.  5,  l879J 
married  Hon.  Daniel  Polsley,  of  Point  Pleasant,  W.  Va. ; 
lawyer;  Judge  of  the  Seventh  Judicial  Circuit  of  West  Vir 
ginia,  1862;    Representative  to  the  XLth  United  States 
Congress,  1867;  d.    1875. 

III.  Caroline  R..  b.  Oct.  22,  181 1;  d.  Sept.  — ,  1881. 

IV.  John,  b.  Feb.  12,  1814;  d.  July  19,  1814. 
V.  Louisa,  b.  Feb.  3,  18 16. 


19 


VI.  Harriet,  b.  Nov.  20,  18 18;  d.  Jan.  26,  1841. 
VII.  John  Doddridge,  b.  Oct.  8,  1821;  d.  April  10,1860. 
VIII.  Danforth,  b.  Holliday's  Cove,  Va.,  June  25,  1824. 

Bishop  Meade,  in  his  "Old  Churches  and  Families  of 
Virginia,"  says  (vol.  ii.,  p.  333)  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  Wellsburg  "have  a  neat  brick  church,  which  was 
built  some  years  ago  almost  entirely  at  the  expense  of  two 
brothers,  John  and  Danforth  Brown." 


EPITAPH  OF  CAPTAIN  BROWN, 

engraved  upon  the  monument  that  marks  his  grave,  at 
Wellsburg:  "Captain  Oliver  Brown,  of  the  Artillery  of  the 
Massachusetts  Line,  Revolutionary  War.  Born  in  Lexing- 
ton, Mass.,  1752.  He  stood  in  front  of  the  first  cannon  fired 
by  the  British  on  the  Americans  in  the  affray  at  Lexington. 
Witnessed  the  Tea  Party,  Boston  Harbor.  Was  at  the 
Battle  of  Bunker's  Hill.  Commissioned  by  Congress  16th 
of  January,  1776.  Commanded  the  volunteer  party  that 
bore  off  the  leaden  statue  of  King  George  from  the  Battery 
of  Xew  York,  and  made  it  into  bullets  for  the  American 
Army.  Bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  command  of  Artillery 
at  the  Battles  of  White  Plains,  Harlem  Heights,  Trenton, 
Princeton,  Brandy  wine,  Germantown,  and  Monmouth.  After 
serving  his  country,  he  enlisted  in  the  Armies  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  surrendered  to  the  last  enemy  on  the  17th  of 
February,  1846,  in  the  full  assurance  of  a  never  ending 

Peace." 


20 


SOLOMON  BROWN, 

The  younger  brother  of  Captain  Oliver  Brown,  was  born  at 
Lexington,  Mass.,  January  15th,  1756,  or  1757.  He  was 
therefore  but  eighteen  years  old  when  the  fight  at  Lexington 
occurred.  On  the  day  preceding  that  event  (April  18,  1775) 
he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  one  who  brought  to  Lex- 
ington the  information  that  Pitcairn  was  about  to  march  to 
Concord.  Having  volunteered  to  watch  the  approach  of 
the  British,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  them,  and  detained 
several  hours.  But  he  escaped,  and  as  the  following  obit- 
uary notice  mentions,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  stirring 
scenes  of  the  19th  of  April. 

He  subsequently  removed  to  Vermont,  became  an  officer 
in  the  Revolution,  and  is  mentioned  in  the  44  Government 
and  Council  of  Vermont"  as  "Captain  Solomon  Brown." 
He  was  also  long  a  Deacon  of  the  Congregational  Church 
of  Middleburg,  where  he  permanently  located. 

44  DEACON  SOLOMON  BROWN. 

44  The  individual  whose  name  heads  this  article,  and  a 
notice  of  whose  death  appeared  in  this  paper  a  short  time 
since,  was  one  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  of  New  Haven,  in 
this  county,  and  died  claiming  the  respect  of  all  who  knew 
him,  for  his  virtues  both  as  a  man  and  a  citizen.  He  was 
a  man  of  strong  natural  powers,  of  great  probity,  of  uncom- 
mon firmness  of  mind  and  purpose,  of  severe  justice,  and  of 
Christian  candor  and  meekness.  He  held  for  many  years 
stations  of  public  trust  among  his  fellow-citizens,  which  he 
ever  discharged  with  fidelity  and  promptness.    He  was  an 


21 


active  and  devoted  Christian,  and  a  father  in  the  churchy 
He  was,  in  short,  one  of  that  class  of  the  community  who 
are  the  support  of  the  society,  the  pillars  of  the  church,  and 
the  ornaments  of  the  republic. 

"  Deacon  Brown  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and 
bore  a  part  in  that  memorable  struggle  which  should  im- 
mortalize him  in  the  annals  of  his  country.  He  was  a 
participator  in  the  first  battle  for  freedom  on  the  plains  of 
Lexington,  and  has  the  unrivaled  honor  of  having  shed  the 
first  British  blood  in  defence  of  American  liberty,  at  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  on  the  morning  of  the  igth  of  April,  1775. 

"This  battle  was  the  opening  scene  of  the  bloody  drama 
which  closed  with  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown, 
and  in  this  scene  the  subject  of  this  notice  stands  forth  the 
most  prominent  actor.  He  wrote  in  blood  the  first  word  in 
the  charter  of  American  freedom.  Let  his  name  be  regis- 
tered among  the  noblest  of  his  country's  benefactors  and 
heroes,..and  honored  by  posterity  as  the  most  dauntless  of 
their  heroic  sires.  Deacon  Brown  served  five  years  in  the 
Revolution  as  a  Sergeant  of  Artillery,  and  encountered  all 
the  perils  and  hardships  of  that  memorable  and  glorious 
struggle.  He  died  mourned  by  his  friends,  lamented  by 
the  church,  and  respected  by  all.  To  those  that  came  after 
him,  he  has  left  a  legacy  of  an  honest  name,  a  guiltless  ex- 
ample, and  a  well  spent  life.  He  came  down  to  the  grave 
'like  a  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe;'  his  body  rests  with  the 
great  congregation  of  the  dead,  and  his  beatified  spirit  has 
gone,  we  trust,  to  the  'bosom  of  his  Father  and  his  God.' 
Peace  be  to  the  memory  of  the  just  and  good."  (From  the 
Middleburg,  Vermont,  Free  Press,  about  1830.) 

A  writer  in  the  Historical  Magazine  (vol.  iii.,  p.  113,  1859) 
makes  a  similar  claim  for  Ebenezer  Lock,  as  having  shed  the 


22 


first  British  blood  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775.  The  claim 
of  Solomon  Brown  rests  on  the  evidence  of  an  eye  witness. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Muzzey,  in  his  Reminiscences  (N.  E.  His. 
Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  xxxi.,  p.  377),  mentions  "  Elijah  Sanderson," 
who  testified  that  "he  saw  blood  where  the  British  column 
stood  when  Solomon  Brown  fired  at  them." 

It  is  conceded  that  no  British  soldier  was  wounded  on 
the  19th  of  April,  1775,  before  Pitcairn  fired  on  the  militia, 
who  were  assembled  on  the  green  at  Lexington,  in  front  of 
the  meeting  house.  It  is  also  conceded  that  at  least  one 
British  soldier,  if  not  two%  were  wounded,  and  that  none  were 
killed  before  the  march  from  Lexington  to  Concord.  It  is 
in  evidence  that  Brown  was  there,  that  he  did  fire  on  the 
enemy,  and  did  wound  one.  The  writer  who  advances  Mr. 
Lock's  claim  states  too  much  for  his  claimant.  He  says 
"Lock  worked  valiantly  for  some  minutes,  bringing  down 
one  of  the  enemy  at  nearly  every  shot.  Up  to  this  time  not  a 
shot  had  been  fired  elsewhere  by  the  rebels" — statements 
utterly  at  variance  with  every  other  account  of  that  day's 
proceedings. 


1 


